'Dynamic Tower' Takes Prefab to New Heights

According to Architectural Record, in June, architect David Fisher unveiled a concept he calls the “Dynamic Tower,” a prefab structure with revolving floors that would use wind turbines and solar panels to power itself and structures around it. Fisher said construction is set to begin soon on two of these skyscrapers—an 80-story, 1,380-foot tower in Dubai and a 70-story, 1,312-foot tower in Moscow—with Leslie E. Robertson Associates on board as structural engineer and the mechanical engineering firm LEHR Consultants International involved, as well.

Fisher founded the design company Fiteco Ltd. in 1985 and designed the preassembled Smart Bathroom system for the Leonardo Group that has been installed at hotels in Dubai, London and Moscow. He has since founded the Dynamic Architecture Group to focus entirely on the Dynamic Tower, which is touted as a net-positive-energy skyscraper with independently rotating floors.

Three core ideas make up Fisher’s vision, he said. First, skyscrapers should not be static. They should be built with factory-made modular components, and they should produce their own energy. The construction plans begin with putting up a fixed concrete core, around which prefabricated living units would be hoisted up in sections, which Fisher said would take 30 percent less time than conventional construction.

When asked who would control each floor’s rotation, Fisher responded with several scenarios, such as a central control or a time-based sharing system.